University of Nebraska–Lincoln

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Motto:	Literis Dedicata et Omnibus Artibus (Latin: Dedicated to Letters and All the Arts)
Established:	1869
Type:	Public Land Grant University
Endowment:	US $1.15 billion (systemwide) [1]
Chancellor:	Harvey Perlman
Faculty:	1,452
Students:	22,973
Undergraduates:	17,371
Postgraduates:	4,655
Location:	Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Campus:	Urban 613 acres (2.5 km²) main campuses 42,562 acres (172.2 km²) total throughout state
Colors:	Scarlet and Cream
Nickname:	Cornhuskers
Mascot:	Herbie Husker and Lil' Red
Affiliations:	Big 12, AAU
Website:	www.unl.edu
Logo is a trademark of the University of Nebraska.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, often called UNL, but also known as Nebraska or NU, is the flagship institution of the University of Nebraska system. UNL was founded in 1869 as a land-grant university under the provisions of the Morrill Act. It is located in Lincoln a few blocks north of the Nebraska State Capitol. The University has two campuses: City Campus, which is the university's main campus, and East Campus, which was originally purchased for use as the university farm. The University is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and is listed as a Carnegie Research I institution.

[edit] Academics

The Cornhusker athletic teams exemplify the tradition of high classroom achievement; more Huskers have been awarded the title 'Academic All American' (football alone and all sports combined) than student-athletes of any other university.^[2]

The UNL honors program is another excellent example of the academic tradition. Each year more than 500 students are selected to the UNL Undergraduate Honors program. All honors students are required to maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA and complete a research based honors thesis. There is also the J.D. Edwards Honors Program, which focuses on students specializing in the integration of both computer science and business management.

[edit] Academic divisions

The university offers over 140 undergraduate majors and 275 programs of study through ten colleges:

• College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
• College of Architecture
• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Business Administration
• College of Education and Human Sciences
• College of Engineering and Technology
• Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts
• Graduate Studies
• College of Journalism and Mass Communications
• College of Law

UNL also offers programs at its campus from other University of Nebraska institutions, including the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Public Affairs and Community Service, the University of Nebraska Medical Center colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, and the Peter Kiewit Institute managed in partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

[edit] Campus

Hamilton Hall

In 1869, the original University of Nebraska campus was laid out on four city blocks and comprised one building called University Hall. Currently, the university has two campuses, totaling 613 acres: City Campus, which is just north of downtown Lincoln, and south of the Nebraska State Fair grounds, and East Campus, which is approximately two miles northeast of City Campus.

[edit] Unions

Nebraska City Union is the student union located on the southern part of City Campus. Many services are offered to the students including dining, computer labs, and other recreational activities, while the lower level of the union houses the University Bookstore. The City Union also provides space for student organizations as well as holding offices for the Daily Nebraskan and the student government. The Rotunda Gallery showcases various student artwork. In spring 2006, the student body voted to finance an expansion to the City Union including adding new space for the university Culture Center (formerly in a different building).

Nebraska East Union is located on East Campus and offers similar student services as the City Union. The Loft Gallery provides space for community and student artwork.

[edit] University libraries

The University Libraries are the only set of comprehensive research libraries in Nebraska. Three million volumes reside in UNL's two main libraries. The Don L. Love Memorial Library is the main library on campus and houses collections on social sciences and humanities. Other academic disciplines are housed in six branch locations on campus:

• Architecture Library
• C.Y. Thompson Library
• Engineering Library
• Geology Library
• Mathematics Library
• Music Library

The Marvin and Virginia Schmid Law Library serves the UNL College of Law.

[edit] Museums

The University of Nebraska State Museum is located on campus in Morrill Hall. The museum holds several collections and exhibits particularly featuring natural history and famously houses mastadon bone fossils. Because of these fossils, and a large bronze mastadon statue located in front of the building, it is popularly known as "Elephant Hall".

The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden is home to more than 12,000 works of art in all media and is a comprehensive collection of American art with prominent holdings in 19th century landscape and still life, American Impressionism, early Modernism, geometric abstraction, Abstract Expressionism, pop, minimalism, and contemporary art. The gallery contains works by such well known artists as Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Mary Cassatt, Keith Jacobshagen, Wayne Thiebaud and Georgia O'Keeffe.

The Great Plains Art Museum is home to the Christlieb Collection^[3] which features American western art and Americana.

[edit] Performing arts venues

The Lied Center for Performing Arts is a performing arts venue used primarily for orchestra concerts and theatre performances.

The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center is a two screen theater located on the UNL City Campus. It features primarily arthouse and independent films, and documentaries.

The Howell Theatre, Studio Theatre, and Lab Theatre are home to the performances of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.

[edit] Other points of interest

Architecture Hall, formerly the universities' library and now home of the universities' outstanding architecture program, is a proud landmark standing on the west edge of campus. It is also the oldest building on campus. This historic structure is linked to the old law building via a huge glass connecting space, known, understandably, as "The Link."

The University of Nebraska Press is the second-largest public university press in the United States, and is among the largest publishers of scholarly titles in the world.^{[citation needed]} It has a program for publishing original works and reprints of significant works about the West. The "Bison Books" imprint is a series of high quality trade paperback editions of significant titles.

The International Quilt Study Center is on East Campus.

The Maxwell Arboretum located on East Campus is part of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum.

[edit] Athletics

Memorial Stadium

Main article: Nebraska Cornhuskers

The school's sports teams are named the Nebraska Cornhuskers (or simply the Huskers). They compete in NCAA Division I (I-A for football) as members of the northern division of the Big 12 Conference. The Huskers have 21 varsity teams that compete in 14 different sports and claim all or part of 23 National Championships across 5 sports, most notably Volleyball, Football, and Gymnastics. In football, the Huskers have had 3 Heisman Trophy winners including Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, and Eric Crouch.

[edit] Student life

About 78% of UNL students are from Nebraska, while the rest are from all forty-nine other states and 114 foreign countries. On-campus students are also members of the UNL Residence Hall Association, which serves as the governing body for the residence halls. Select senior honoraries include the Nebraska-only Society of Innocents and the Black Masque chapter of Mortar Board.

[edit] Residence Halls

Approximately 40% of the student body lives on-campus in 14 traditional residence halls, and two on-campus apartment-style halls.

There are 11 traditional residence halls on the City Campus:

• Abel
• Cather
• Harper
• Husker Hall
• Kauffman Center
• Pound
• Neihardt
• Sandoz
• Schramm
• Selleck
• Smith

Three traditional residence halls are on the East Campus:

• Burr
• Fedde
• Love Memorial Co-op

And two on-campus apartment-style halls are located on the City Campus:

• Husker Courtyards
• Husker Village

[edit] Student government

The governing body for UNL students is the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, or ASUN. Every year students vote for a president, two vice presidents, and a senate that is composed of representatives from each college. The president also acts as the student regent to the NU Board of Regents.

[edit] Greek houses

UNL has a significant Greek population, with about 5,200 students being members of 29 fraternities (28 chapters and one colony) and 14 sororities. There are numerous events on campus throughout the year such as decorating "Greek Row" for the homecoming parade and various philanthropy events.

[edit] Media

The Daily Nebraskan, known to students as the "DN", is UNL's student newspaper. It was established in 1901 and is published every weekday during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer.

UNL operates a Class A FM radio station, KRNU, which broadcasts on 90.3 FM and has a range of approximately 20 miles. The station plays mostly alternative and modern rock as well as running sportscasts of Nebraska's home events, news, live public affairs broadcasts of campus speakers and forums.

In February 2008, The Publications Board recognized the Dailyer Nebraskan as an affiliated publication. The board also approved the printing costs of the first three issues of the satirical paper. ^[4]

[edit] Notable alumni

• Edith Abbott, social worker, educator, and author.
• Grace Abbott, pioneering American social worker, attended the university in the early 1900s.
• Hazel Abel, former US Senator from Nebraska.
• George W. Beadle, winner of the 1958 Nobel prize in physiology and medicine received his bachelor of science and master of science degrees from the College of Agriculture in the 1920s. The George W. Beadle Center for Genetics and Biomaterials Research at UNL is named for Dr. Beadle.
• John Robert Brown, former US judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, one of the "Fifth Circuit Four" crucial to civil rights decisions.
• Herbert Brownell, Jr., United States Attorney General under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
• Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha" and richest man in the world (net worth of $62 billion).
• Johnny Carson, longtime host of The Tonight Show, who, before his death, donated 5.3 million dollars to the College of Fine and Performing Arts.
• Willa Cather, distinguished novelist, studied at the university in the 1890s. Her novels include O Pioneers!, My Antonia, and One of Ours, for which she won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel. The Willa Cather Archive is available from UNL.
• Joba Chamberlain, baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees.
• Aaron Douglas, distinguished painter and leader of the Harlem Renaissance, received his B.F.A. from the university in 1922.
• Harold Eugene Edgerton, distinguished MIT professor and inventor.
• Rollins A. Emerson, American geneticist.
• Darin Erstad, former baseball All-American and punter at UNL; drafted with the top overall pick in the 1995 MLB Draft by what is now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; a two-time MLB All-star and three-time Gold Glove winner for the Angels (only player in MLB history to have won Gold Gloves as an outfielder and an infielder); currently plays center field for the Chicago White Sox.
• William Fawcett, Ph.D. (1936), film and television actor
• David Fellman, political scientist.
• Rulon Gardner, amateur wrestler and mixed martial arts competitor; won the 2000 Summer Olympics gold medal for wrestling, defeating the previously undefeated champion of 13 years, Alexander Karelin.
• Alex Gordon, former baseball All-American at UNL, being named the unanimous national player of the year in 2005; drafted second overall in the 2005 MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals; won Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year award in 2006 while playing for the AA Wichita Wranglers; currently starts at third base for the Royals.
• Ahman Green, former running back All-American at UNL, current NFL pro bowler, signed with the Houston Texans in Spring of 2007.
• Kip Gross, retired Major League Baseball pitcher; played for the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japan Pacific League.
• Stanley K. Hathaway-Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former Wyoming Governor
• Galen B. Jackman, US Army Major General, Nancy Reagan's escort throughout the death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan, and first commanding officer of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region.
• Dan Johnson, MLB Player, Oakland Athletics
• Weldon Kees, notable poet.
• Bob Kerrey, a Medal of Honor recipient in Vietnam, Democrat, former governor of Nebraska, former senator from Nebraska, and a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (known as the 9/11 Commission).
• J. Martin Klotsche, first chancellor of the 23,000-student University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
• Ted Kooser, who was named Poet Laureate of the United States in 2004, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, took a master's degree at the University of Nebraska in 1968 and was a visiting professor in the English department.
• Al McIntosh, distinguished newspaper editor featured in Ken Burns' documentary "The War."
• Mikki Moore, National Basketball Association player for the Sacramento Kings.
• Ben Nelson, senator from Nebraska and former governor of Nebraska.
• John J. Pershing, first general officer to be named General of the Armies (only George Washington and George Dewey outrank him in American military history), commander of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War I; took a law degree at the University of Nebraska while serving as the Professor of Military Science in the 1890s.
• Emily Poeschl, Miss Nebraska USA 2006.
• Louise Pound, longtime English professor at UNL & president of the Modern Language Association, 1954-55.
• Roscoe Pound, distinguished legal scholar and dean of Harvard Law School.
• James G. Roudebush, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General and doctor of medicine, currently serving as Surgeon General of the United States Air Force.
• Virginia Smith, Republican U.S. representative from Nebraska, 1975-1991; last woman to represent Nebraska in Congress.
• Adam Stern, baseball player.
• Nate Branch, former Harlem Globetrotters player.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• UNL was the first academic institution west of the Missouri River to grant the Ph.D. degree.
• The world's first undergraduate psychology lab was established at UNL.
• For a few weeks in the 2004 fall semester, rocker Tommy Lee attended several classes at the university for the NBC television show Tommy Lee Goes to College.
• UNL is also home of the Pershing Rifles National Headquarters. This is in recognition of General John J. Pershing (an 1893 NU law school graduate and former professor of Military Science and Tactics) who created "Company A," a competitive drill team, for the University of Nebraska's Cadet Corps in 1891. The drill team won the National Competitive Drills in 1892, changed its name to the "Varsity Rifles" when it became a recognized fraternal organization in 1893, and finally changed its name again to the "Pershing Rifles" in 1894. UNL rededicated the Military and Naval Science Building as the John J. Pershing Military and Naval Science Building on April 20, 2006.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Department
• University of Nebraska–Lincoln is at coordinates 40°49′04″N 96°42′05″W / 40.817638, -96.701513 (University of Nebraska–Lincoln)Coordinates: 40°49′04″N 96°42′05″W / 40.817638, -96.701513 (University of Nebraska–Lincoln)